More confusion on tax policy

Published 5:48 pm, Wednesday, September 19, 2012

It was good to see Republican Senate candidate Linda McMahon distance herself this week from the offensive comments from her party’s presidential nominee.

Mitt Romney, in what he thought was a closed-door talk with fundraisers earlier this year, referred to nearly half of Americans — 47 percent — as “dependent upon government, who believe that they are victims, who believe the government has a responsibility to care for them. ... My job is not to worry about those people. I’ll never convince them they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives.”

The 47 percent figure refers to the number of Americans who do not pay federal income taxes. Of course, there are many taxes they do pay, including state and local taxes, payroll tax, sales tax, etc. And many of the 47 percent are students, senior citizens and people who work long hours at low-paying jobs. These are the people Romney claims lack “personal responsibility.”

McMahon was one of the first prominent Republicans to repudiate Romney’s statement. But it was weakened by the fact that McMahon herself has used the same terminology, saying in an interview last year that “47 percent of the people today do not pay any taxes.”

Her campaign staff tried to clarify, claiming she was referring to federal income taxes. But that’s not what she said.

In fact, in that same interview she implied that we need a “fairer” tax code by raising taxes on people who don’t earn enough to pay federal income taxes. This is of a piece with the Romney plan, which includes many tax cuts but asks more from people who can ill afford it.

If McMahon wants to disavow Romney’s remarks, good for her. But the issue isn’t just Romney’s belief that nearly half of Americans do not “care for their lives.” It’s the claim, which is gaining in acceptance, that half of Americans do not contribute to society. It’s wrong, and when candidates suggest policy based on it, it’s dangerous to millions of Americans, as well.